#52FilmsByWomen: SUFFRAGETTE

I don’t know how I missed this film last year when I wanted to see it so badly but there couldn’t be better timing for this story as we head into one of the most disturbing elections in history.

Directed by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane, This Little Life) and written by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame), SUFFRAGETTE follows the struggle of British women to obtain the vote in 1912 –something that wouldn’t be achieved until 1928.

We take voting so for granted in our country that people actually have the luxury to abstain. Watching what these women sacrificed and suffered through for so long–and knowing how many women in other parts of the world still don’t have a voice–I don’t think I could ever, in good conscience, fail to cast my own ballot.

This film is gripping and gut-wrenching from start to finish. It’s a wake-up call to all of us because, although we may enjoy a relative amount of freedom in the western world, we are still so behind in areas of equality. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I believe that our world will only reflect the values of its diverse populations when those populations rise up to demand that they be heard. We cannot rely on old white men or corrupt governments to do it for us because if we do we’ll be waiting forever.